Locations in Europe: London
Storyline
Star(s): Shah Rukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Arman Verma
Language: Hindi
Songs/Dance/Action Sequences: Located in Europe and India.
Indian/ International Crew: Indian and international
Executive Producer/ Line Producer/Production Coordinator: Sanjiv Chawla (Executive Producer); Tim Dennison (Line Producer: UK); Mohammad Tariq (Production Coordinator: UK)
Director/Producer: Anubhav Sinha and Bazin Bs (Directors); Gauri Khan and Winford Productions (Producers); Sunil Lulla and Andrew Heffernan (Co-producers)
Film Location Analysis
By Ranjani Mazumdar
Since the story involves an engineer working in London and living with his family, a major segment of Ra.One is set in the city. Apart from some usual shots of London’s streets and generic glass façade buildings, such as the exterior of the building where Shekhar works, some iconic sites have been mobilised. We also see Potters Field Park, where Sekhar and Armaan are playing a game while Sonia looks on. London Bridge looms large on one side, clearly visible to all at this park. The iconic use of the London Bridge is a recurring theme in many Bollywood films.
The Lambeth Bridge is the other iconic site, captured with high-angle aerial views at night to present Shekhar driving back home at night. Very early in the narrative, things start to spiral, and Ra. One emerges out of the game, enters the body of a co-worker of Shekhar, and kills the latter one night on the streets of London. Lambeth Bridge is also the site of an action sequence involving helicopters. The bridge opened in 1932 and boasts of a structure that is adorned with decorative obelisks at the two ends. The 776-foot-long and 60-foot-wide bridge has four lanes of traffic. Much less known than the other bridges in London, it offers a very distinct view of the city. Memorial gardens, art galleries, and historic buildings are located at either end of this bridge on the Thames. It is used by cars, buses, and strollers who want to see recognisable sites of the city such as the London Eye and Big Ben.
The most significant site used in the film is the Battersea Power Station for a dramatic fight between Ra.One and G.One. But before we arrive at the site, Ra.One is shown flying, then on a motorbike as he rushes through the city’s traffic chasing Sonia and Prateek's car, moving through central London and creating a blur of images. Long shots of Lambeth Bridge are shown, this time during the day, as part of the chase. Often, aerial views provide a sense of where in the city we are located. Ra.One's robotic/gamic point of view, presented as a form of computerised, electronic vision and intercut with shots seen directly by the camera, is a distinctive feature of this chase. At this point, the camera view is identified with Sonia and Prateek, while the electronic view of the scene is identified with Ra.One. The frenetic chase finally ends in the courtyard of the Battersea Power Station, which is packed with cars. This is where G. One appears dramatically in his blue costume, standing on a car. His mission here is to protect Sonia and Prateek, and the first stage of the battle with Ra.One sets off a flying spectacle of cars and the acrobatic bodies of Ra.One and G.One with the Power Station as a dramatic backdrop.
The second part of this sequence turns into a mapping exercise, recognising the tremendous heritage value of the space. In the thrilling fight that ensues, all the elements of cinematic spectacle are used—Battersea Power Station is literally brought to life by displaying its chimneys, its magnificent walls, and its iron structures. Now G.One too has an electronic point of view that sets off this mapping exercise. The interaction between cinema and architecture has always been dynamic, and when there is a desire to map the value of a location, the moving image offers a cartographic imagination that has always been unique to the medium.
The Battersea Power Station, known for its Art Deco design and located on the south bank of the river Thames, was a coal power station built in the late 1930s. In the mid-1970s, the station was decommissioned and, for years, remained empty and derelict. In 2014, a process of restoration began, and today the power station is a major landmark of the city. The four chimneys that look over the Thames were rebuilt, and the brickwork appearance was maintained with a desire to keep the past alive in the present form of the space. The Power Station is now a popular location with residential apartments, workspaces, shopping, and other leisure activities available on three levels in the restored turbine halls. Going up the chimneys in elevators for a view of the city is one of the major highlights for visitors. This massive power station, nearly three times the size of the Tate Modern and perhaps the largest brick building in the world, has been used in several Hollywood films, including Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight and Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men. The station’s sense of scale and its historical value associated with London’s industrial past have made it a slightly different kind of landmark, offering an architectural value that filmmakers have deployed creatively. Since the building sat empty for years, filmmakers found it easy to use for a particular kind of location shooting. Ra. One was shot here in 2010-11. The shooting style of the action sequence in the film follows a mapping exercise, taking in the innards of the building, its iron grids, and decaying walls. The aesthetic power of this gigantic industrial building is amplified by the shooting and editing style—a combination of aerial views, crane movement, and low and high-angle intercutting to establish the difference in scale between the bodies and the building.
While London has been a popular city for many Bollywood films, Ra.One manages to combine the city’s urban form with a somewhat different imagination that makes the Power Station sequence a dramatic moment in the film.
Additional Information & Links
https://bestmediainfo.com/2012/03/discovery-channel-decodes-the-making-of-ra-one
https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/story/raone-interesting-facts-144134-2011-10-24
https://www.ndtv.com/entertainment/ra-one-collects-rs-170-crores-over-the-weekend-622044
Tourism
Several events were organised in London for the release of the film. The UK government paid Rs 20 crore as subsidy (some trade analysts have quoted a figure of Rs. 25 crore) because sections of the film were shot in London. Shah Rukh Khan also co-produced the film with a UK company, Winford Productions, which helped in crossing the “Culture Test” threshold. This was clearly a transaction with an eye on boosting tourism.
